Rival Shiv Sena factions make written submissions before Election Commission

The Shinde and Thackeray factions of the Sena have been locked in a battle for the control of the organisation.

The Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions of the Shiv Sena on Monday, January 30, 2023, made their final submissions before the Election Commission, asserting their claim to the party organisation and the poll symbol.

The written submissions were filed through their respective lawyers on Monday, which was the last day for presenting the documents .

“We are hopeful for an early verdict by the Election Commission,” Rahul Shewale, the Leader of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) in the Lok Sabha said.

On January 20, the rival factions had concluded their arguments before the Election Commission. Both sides had submitted thousands of documents to the poll panel over the past few months to support their claim and argued their respective cases before the Commission on three occasions.

Mr. Shinde walked out of the Shiv Sena in June last year to become the chief minister of Maharashtra with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government.

The Shinde and Thackeray factions of the Sena have been locked in a battle for the control of the organisation since then.

In November last year, the Election Commission had asked the Sena factions to submit fresh documents to back their claim to the party's name and poll symbol.